ASQE requires that you recertify the following certifications every three years to ensure you maintain the same level of knowledge demonstrated in your first exam.
The Quality Inspector (CQI), Quality Improvement Associate (CQIA), Quality Process Analyst (CQPA), Quality Technician (CQT), Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB), and Six Sigma Yellow Belt (SSYB) are lifetime certifications. They have no recertification requirements.
Recertification by journal with RU credits is a simple process of obtaining a minimum of 18 recertification units (RUs) within your three-year certification period. You may accumulate the 18 RU credits from professional activities that either increase your knowledge of the Body of Knowledge or are job enhancing. All activities can start before you initially obtain your ASQ certification and must be completed within your three-year recertification period to qualify.
For your current certification information, please log in. Then visit certification overview. Your certifications will display there. The information will include expiration dates, status of pending certifications, and exam result information for retakes.
If a program is sufficiently rigorous and based in at least one area of your certification(s)' Body of Knowledge (BOK) or is job-enhancing, you may count it toward recertification units (RUs). You may begin a course/activity before you are certified.
If you've already recertified, you may use completed activities dated from July 1st through your expiration date if your expiration is June 30th or January 1st if your expiration date is December 31st. You must complete activities by the expiration date of your certification(s).
The recertification journal explains how many RUs you receive for each activity you claim.
Other key points:
To receive employment recertification units, at least one area of your job duties, responsibilities, or functions must fall in at least one area of the Body of Knowledge (BOK) for your certification(s).
Part-time employment qualifies for recertification units (RUs) under the employment portion of the recertification journal. Part-time status is based on how your employer classifies you; either as full time or part time.
Part-time employment is worth .15 RUs per month or 1.8 RUs per year during your three-year recertification period.
If you are unable to obtain a past employer's employment verification documentation, you may use old pay stubs or tax forms as an alternative form of employment documentation. You may black out any personal information where necessary. However, you MUST include your name, the company name, and the beginning and end dates of the employment period.
Yes, activities performed by local, state and national quality awards can qualify for recertification units (RUs).
ASQE grants .1 RUs per hour of training. Include these under the "student" portion of the recertification journal when you complete any pre-examiner training for a local, state, or national quality award examining committee. If you are accepted by a local, state, or national quality award committee, you also receive 1.5 RUs per committee/per year of active involvement. Include these under the "committees" portion of the recertification journal. Credits for the auditing functions/site visits performed by quality award committees also fall under the "committees" portion for RUs.
List volunteer activities, such as serving as elected or appointed ASQ section officers, ASQ Quality Press reviewers and members of the Standards Group on QEDS under the "committees" category of the recertification journal at the rate of 1.5 recertification units per year/per committee. Committees do not have to be ASQ committees to qualify. Work-related committees do not qualify.
Documentation may be in the form of a letter from the organization chapter written on letterhead, listing your name, appointed position, length of service and your duties and responsibilities.
Presentations should be entered under the "publishing" category, under the "presentation" sub-category. Presenters earn 1 recertification unit per presentation regardless of the amount of time put into preparation and the duration of the presentation.
If you don’t have enough recertification units by your recertification date; you must recertify by exam. You have one year from the recertification date to recertify by exam. (You’re still considered certified because it’s assumed you intend to recertify within the one–year time frame.)
You may qualify for a waiver if you’re unable to collect the required 18 recertification units before your certification expiration date. ASQE makes these determinations on a case–by–case basis by weighing extenuating circumstances such as health issues, unemployment or other personal or family emergencies.
Please contact ASQ for further details before your six-month recertification journal grace period has expired.
If you pass the exam you will be issued a new certificate with the same certification number as before. If you don't pass the recertification by exam, you will be decertified and will need to certify by exam as a new applicant. If you choose to certify as a new applicant and pass, you will receive an entirely new certification number, along with a new certificate and new three-year recertification start date.
If you hold multiple ASQ certifications, you can "synchronize" them and renew them all at once by submitting a single recertification journal instead of separately renewing different certifications with different recertification dates.
To synchronize two or more certifications, all you need to include is documentation for the 18 RUs required to recertify the one certification that is currently due. You are not required to provide additional evidence for any of the other certifications you are trying to synchronize. If the certification that is currently due is approved, we will adjust all your other certifications to recertify at the same time as the certification currently due. For future recertification, you only need to provide a total of 18 RUs for all synchronized certifications.
For more information or to download the recertification journal, please visit the ASQ Recertification webpage.
The fees for recertifying two or more certifications are:
Certificate | Date Exam Passed |
Expiration Date |
Last Date Recertified |
Quality Auditor | 06/05/01 | 12/31/15 | 12/15/12 |
Reliability Engineer | 12/07/07 | 12/31/15 | 12/15/12 |
Software Quality Engineer | 10/02/06 | 12/31/16 |
After synchronization:
Certificate | Date Exam Passed |
Expiration Date |
Last Date Recertified |
Quality Auditor | 06/05/01 | 12/31/18 | 12/03/15 |
Reliability Engineer | 12/07/07 | 12/31/18 | 12/03/15 |
Software Quality Engineer | 10/02/06 | 12/31/18 | 12/03/15 |
Candidates who successfully recertify one or more certifications will receive a digital badge for each active certification. After your recertification journal is reviewed and approved, you will receive an email from our issuing partner, Accredible, with links to claim your badge(s).
If you are not due to recertify for some time, or have certifications that do not have a recertification requirement, you can also claim a badge for any active certification by signing-in to your account, accessing the ‘My Certifications’ link on the left-side of the page, and clicking the ‘Claim My Badges’ button.
To learn more about how to share your digital badge on social media sites, embed your badge in an email signature, and view additional helpful resources, please visit our Digital Badges FAQ page.